Youths from Financially-Challenged Families Given a Helping Hand to Continue their Education, with Support from ISCA Cares

-The charity arm of the national accountancy body provides bursaries to accountancy students whose family’s per capita monthly income falls below $690

-Over $110,000 in bursaries were given to 36 ISCA Cares beneficiaries in 2019

16 October 2019– Twenty-year-old Prithpal Kaur has been the sole breadwinner of her family since her father passed away from cancer in May 2017, leaving behind hefty cancer treatment expenses. Her mother, suffering from a host of health problems, is unable to work. To help pay for household expenses, the third-year accountancy student at Singapore Polytechnic works part-time at a café and fast food restaurant. Even so, she recognises that her savings are depleting.

Nineteen-year-old Nur Masdiana Bte Roslee has not seen her father since he abandoned the family years ago. She lives with her unemployed mother and younger sister, who is a secondary school student. Having overcome the emotional turmoil caused by her father’s abandonment of the family, Masdiana managed to fulfil her dream of studying accountancy at Singapore Polytechnic. This is despite having to work part-time during the weekends to help with family finances. With financial difficulties constantly weighing on her mind, Masdiana admits that she sometimes finds it “exhausting” to keep a positive mindset. 

Since her secondary school days, twenty-year-old Goh Liu Ying has been working two part-time jobs to help ease her family’s financial difficulties. With persistence and determination, Liu Ying graduated from ITE with good academic grades, on top of her duties in the student council and active participation in voluntary work. Now a second-year accountancy student at Singapore Polytechnic, Liu Ying finds herself supporting her father who is facing retrenchment, and her two siblings who are presently schooling.

Growing up in a household where finances were tight, Zaid Bin Rahim, 25, appreciates the benefits of financial planning even more. Living with his parents and brother, fast food was considered a luxury in the family when he was growing up, as the majority of his father’s earnings went towards repaying debts. To ease his family’s financial burden, Zaid juggles his accountancy education at the Singapore Management University with part-time jobs during the holidays. Upon graduation, Zaid hopes to help those in similar financial circumstances by teaching them financial planning skills. He said, “Being financially challenged clouds a person’s judgement. I intend to educate and motivate these (financially-challenged) people to move away from the present-centric mentality and start investing in the future bit by bit. I believe this provides them with a fighting chance to break out of the poverty cycle.”

Prithpal, Masdiana, Liu Ying and Zaid are among the 36 students from underprivileged families who received their bursaries at the ISCA Cares Bursary Awards Ceremony, held on 16 October at the KPMG Clubhouse. The ISCA Cares Education Programme awards bursaries to needy youths whose family’s per capita income fall below $690. This year, ISCA Cares disbursed over S$110,000 to 36 beneficiaries.

ISCA Cares is a charity set up by ISCA in 2015, which has been accorded IPC status. A programme under the ISCA Cares, the ISCA Cares Education Programme aims to provide needy youths with access to quality accountancy education in local polytechnics and universities. The ISCA Cares bursary will go towards subsidising beneficiaries’ tuition fees and basic living expenses. Beneficiaries may also be provided with the opportunity to be mentored by experienced accounting professionals for a year. Beneficiaries can also apply for internship programmes at the offices of corporate donors, where they can gain invaluable accountancy work experience.

ISCA Cares was made possible with the firm support of the accountancy profession. RSM Chio Lim LLP, BDO LLP and Deloitte and Touche LLP are the largest corporate donors this year. KPMG Singapore extended their premises for the award ceremony. 

ISCA Cares Chairman, Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, said, “At ISCA Cares, we believe no one should be deprived of a chance at education because of difficult financial circumstances. Through the ISCA Cares Education Programme, we provide needy students with the crucial support that enables them to continue their studies and work towards their dream of pursuing an accountancy career. Our beneficiaries continue to inspire us with their resilience, having remained steadfast in the face of adverse family circumstances. We thank our donors, whose generosity made it possible for ISCA Cares to provide much-needed financial assistance to our beneficiaries.”

Mr Lee Fook Chiew, Chief Executive Officer of ISCA, said, “It is heartening to see many firms and individuals step up and provide their generous support to students who are in need. We encourage more members of the profession to lend their support to ISCA Cares and give back to the community, whether by providing financial assistance, becoming mentors to the beneficiaries, or by offering them internship opportunities.”

To learn more about some of the beneficiaries, refer to the Appendix.

For information on ISCA Cares, visit http://isca.org.sg/isca-cares.

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For media queries, please contact:

Clarissa Tan, Communications Executive

HP: 6597 5609 / 9634 6912

Email: clarissa.tan@isca.org.sg

Betsy Tan, Senior Communications Manager

HP: 6597 5608 / 9641 6920

Email: betsy.tan@isca.org.sg

About ISCA Cares

ISCA Cares is a charity with Institute of Public Character (IPC) set up by the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA) as part of Singapore's Golden Jubilee celebrations in 2015.

ISCA Cares envisions a compassionate and caring accountancy community that actively contributes towards the betterment of society. Its mission is to encourage open-heartedness by promoting strong social conscience and a spirit of inclusivity in the accountancy community.

ISCA Cares supports two charitable causes:

Education: To provide needy Singapore youths with academic potential access to quality accountancy education through financial and non-financial assistance.

Community: To harness the knowledge, skills and expertise of the accountancy community, for community development projects through collaborative programmes with partners.

About the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants

The Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA) is the national accountancy body of Singapore. ISCA’s vision is to be a globally recognised professional accountancy body, bringing value to our members, the profession and wider community. There are over 32,000 ISCA members making their stride in businesses across industries in Singapore and around the world. 

Established in 1963, ISCA is an advocate of the interests of the profession. Possessing a Global Mindset, with Asian Insights, ISCA leverages its regional expertise, knowledge, and networks with diverse stakeholders to contribute towards Singapore’s transformation into a global accountancy hub. 

ISCA is the Designated Entity to confer the Chartered Accountant of Singapore - CA (Singapore) - designation. 

ISCA is a member of Chartered Accountants Worldwide, a global family that brings together the members of leading institutes to create a community of over 1.8 million Chartered Accountants and students in more than 190 countries. 

For more information, visit www.isca.org.sg.

Appendix: Selected Beneficiary Profiles

About Prithpal Kaur (20)

An accountancy student at Singapore Polytechnic, Prithpal Kaur’s salary from two part-time jobs goes towards supporting her mother and herself. In the first year of her diploma studies, her father passed away from cancer, leaving behind expensive treatment fees. Her mother is unable to find work due to health issues, withknee degeneration, diabetes and high blood pressure. Unable to work long hours during her school term, Prithpal’s savings are depleting rapidly, but she remains undaunted. Now twenty years old and in her final year of education, she has plans to further her studies in university, with hopes that it will land her a good job in the future.

About Nur Masdiana Bte Roslee (19)

Nineteen-year-old Nur Masdiana Bte Roslee has not seen her father since he abandoned the family years ago. She lives with her unemployed mother and younger sister, who is a secondary school student. Having overcome the emotional turmoil caused by her father’s abandonment of the family, Masdiana managed to fulfil her dream of studying accountancy at Singapore Polytechnic. This was despite having to work part-time during the weekends to help with family finances. With financial difficulties constantly weighing on her mind, Masdiana admits that she sometimes finds it “exhausting” to keep a positive mindset. 

About Goh Liu Ying (20)

At a young age, Goh Liu Ying helped eased her family’s financial difficulties by working two jobs throughout her weekdays and weekends. With persistence and determination, Liu Ying graduated from ITE with good academic grades, on top of her duties in the student council and her active participation in voluntary work. Now a twenty-year-old student studying accountancy in her second year of studies at Singapore Polytechnic, Liu Ying is supporting a father who is facing retrenchment, and her two other siblings who are schooling. Though her mother is still in the workforce, Liu Ying’s father faces blindness in one eye, minimal educational qualifications and a weak command of language.

About Zaid Bin Rahim (25)

Growing up in a household where finances were tight, Zaid Bin Rahim, 25, appreciates the benefits of having good financial planning. Zaid lives with his parents and brother. Growing up, fast food was considered a luxury, as the majority of the family’s earnings went towards repaying debts. It took a long 30 years for their finances to be in the black, but it was not without much hardship. Currently an accountancy student at the Singapore Management University, Zaid takes on holiday jobs to help with family’s finances as his father was forced to take on a retirement job at a lower pay grade. Zaid intends to help others who are facing similar financial difficulties like himself out of their hardships through proper education on finance management.